


The Sides of a Coin

by Lieju



Category: Disney Duck Universe, Disney Ducks (Comics)
Genre: Deathfic, M/M, based on the comics but idk i guess you can see it as a ducktales fic if you want, no idea how well it fits thre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 16:03:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11786607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lieju/pseuds/Lieju
Summary: Different possibilities, different choices, but some things are always the same. Deathfic.





	The Sides of a Coin

 

A coin lands.

Heads.

* * *

 

 

”Time to go, Scrooge.”

Scrooge opened his eyes. ”Flinty?”

He was there, standing next to his bed.

”You're dead,” Scrooge told him. Flinty looked solid for a ghost, even if he was somewhat younger looking than back when... He looked like back in his 80's, they way he had when they had met when Glomgold had declared himself the richest duck. For some reason Scrooge felt at peace despite this, and took the offered hand.

”Yes, and so are you,” Flintheart told him matter-of-factly.

Scrooge glanced at the still figure he had left behind on the bed. ”Ah.”

He felt good, however. Light. None of the pain was there anymore. And Flintheart...

Scrooge pulled him to a hug. ”I missed you.” Almost a year since he had died.

”I stayed right by you,” Flinty said. ”At all times. Could you tell at all?”

”Maybe. At least you didn't miss my 100th birthday then.”

Scrooge could sense the other duck was hesitating somehow. There was something he wasn't telling him. The kiss he gave Scrooge was familiar. But desperate.

”What is it?”

”Scrooge...”

”What now?”

”Scrooge, I won't be going where you'll go.” He glanced downwards.

Scrooge followed his gaze. A black chain clung to his ankle. The other end of it snaked downwards, disappearing through the floor.

”No,” Scrooge stated. ”You won't go to Hell. Or wherever _that_ goes.” He cocked his head. ”Do you even know what's really beyond there..?”

He had stayed close to Scrooge after his death. Not just to watch over him but to avoid moving forward...

”Scrooge, I don't know but...”

In horror Scrooge watched the chain come to life and move like a snake, curling around Flinty's foot.

”If you see my mother, tell her... To be honest, probably best you don't tell her anyth-”

Scrooge stomped on the chain. It shattered under his foot.

Flintheart stared. ”Um?”

The pieces of the chain rattled on the floor, trying to regain their form.

Scrooge took hold of Flinty's shoulders. ”Listen, I'm not going to tell you you don't deserve Hell because you're not going to believe me anyway. But! You're mine, and I'm not stepping into the Great Beyond without you. And that's final!”

He took Flinty's hand and pulled him away from the grumbling pieces of chain. ”So? How are we going to do this? Find some light at the end of a tunnel to step into?”

Scrooge focused. His whole body was an illusion now anyway, wasn't it? And for his next great adventure-

He shifted back to his Klondike appearance. A thought occurred to him. Maybe a bit further back-

He reached for the oft-revisited memories of hot Transvaal sun and let them bring with them the familiar shape. The other man followed, perhaps by instinct, and soon the figure in his early twenties stood in front of Scrooge. He smiled and the last remnants of the chain disappeared in the morning sun.

Before Scrooge could react he was pulled to an embrace. ”You handsome devil, you.”

Scrooge returned the kiss before pulling back. ”I think I can feel it.”

Flinty nodded. ”Me too. I've felt it before, like I was being tugged at but... This feels...”

He grasped Scrooge's hand. ”Ready?”

Scrooge could feel the tugging even stronger now. It wasn't pleasant. It also wasn't _un_ pleasant. Simply unknown. He could see it now before them too. Like a veil hanging in the air...

Scrooge nodded. ”Yes.”

And together they stepped forward.

 

* * *

 

A second time, a coin is flipped. It dances through the possibilities, and lands, making one of them true.

Tails.

 

* * *

 

”Time to go, Scrooge.”

Scrooge opened his eyes. ”What?” Scrooge's eyes widened. ”Flintheart?”

He was there, standing next to his bed. Scrooge wasn't quite aware of what was going on but it felt wrong.

Flintheart Glomgold had died almost a year ago. Even if he looked solid for a ghost, even if he was somewhat younger looking than when Scrooge had seen him last... And yet somehow Scrooge knew this wasn't a dream or a trick.

”You're dead,” Scrooge told him.

”Yes, and so are you,” Flintheart told him matter-of-factly.

He reached out a hand and Scrooge took it. His touch was cold but at least it seemed to jolt Scrooge's body into motion and he struggled up.

Flintheart pointed at the still figure Scrooge had left behind on the bed. ”See? At least hopefully you'll leave a prettier corpse than I did. Someone is bound to come across your body soon...”

”Ah.” Scrooge wondered what time it was. A moment before he had felt it was morning, but the room felt darker now.

And Flintheart...

”I have to say, of all people I expected to greet me in the afterlife, you were not one of them,” Scrooge told him.

”I've been around,” Flinty said. ”Since I died. Couldn't you tell at all?”

”An unpleasant dark cloud hanging over me? Maybe. Or maybe it was indigestion.” Scrooge grinned. ”At least you didn't miss my 100th birthday then. Had I known you were listening I would have made a point of mentioning you in my speech. The Second Richest Duck.”

”Scrooge...” Flintheart grumbled.

”So what now then, Flintheart? I hope you're not planning to hang around my money bin for the rest of eternity. It's bound to bring the property value down one way or another.”

”Scrooge, it won't be much longer now.” He glanced downwards.

Scrooge followed his gaze. A black chain clung to his ankle. The other end of it snaked downwards, through the floor and beyond.

Scrooge cocked his head. ”Figures. A lifetime of lying, cheating and overall nastiness tends to do that to you. Although do you even know what's really beyond there..?”

Flintheart leaped at Scrooge and before Scrooge could react he was tackled into the ground. Dark cold chains were wrapped around Scrooge's neck.

”How about we find out together, eh Scroogey?” Flintheart asked, pulling on the chains, tightening his grip.

Scrooge tried to talk but found breath stuck in his throat. The darkness surrounded him now...

The chain felt alive, wrapping around him and Flintheart like a snake.

Scrooge's mind was racing. Of all people to welcome him to the afterlife! Glomgold! But... He had stayed close to him after his death.

”Coward!” Scrooge coughed out.

The chain let go enough for him to breathe.

But he was dead now, wasn't he? Why would he need breath?

With that realization Scrooge twirled around and kicked Flintheart off.

Scrooge stood up, shaky for a bit before he remembered none of this mattered. His mortal coil lay in bed. He was no longer the old man he had been. After all, Flintheart's appearance was that of a younger man. But Scrooge decided to show him how it was done. He focused on his memories. The time when he had been at his strongest.

The memories of Klondike washed over him.

”Scrooge!” Glomgold spat out.

Scrooge smiled and his trusty old pick materialized into his hand. Not that he needed it to fight off his attacker. Glomgold was laying on the floor, the chains wrapping around him hungrily.

Scrooge twirled the pick in his hand. He too could feel a tugging on his being... Different from what his nemesis writhing on the floor must have felt. Scrooge had no idea what it was. What waited him on the other side.

He grinned. Time to find out.

Scrooge focused on the feeling and reached out to it. And he could see it... A veil-

Something cold wrapped itself around Scrooge's ankle.

Scrooge looked down to see Glomgold, looking younger now, grasping his ankle.

”McDuck!” Glomgold grinned. The chain curled around him, now almost completely covering him up. It moved on his arm, trying to reach Scrooge.

The first hit of the pick missed, but the second one hit its target and with a wail of pain Glomgold let go.

Scrooge felt around with his mind for the veil. Still there.

With a scream of anger Glomgold watched his foe step towards the unknown and disappear.

He was _gone._

Glomgold struggled up. ”Scrooge! Come back and fight me like a man!”

The chains were heavier and colder by the minute. But the anger glowing inside of him now gave him strength, just enough to take a step towards the veil Scrooge had disappeared into.

Did he really think he'd get away this easily?

Glomgold reached a hand to the chain curled around his neck and tore it off. Little by little the chains started to grumble. But the veil was starting to disappear- Glomgold shook off the broken chain and dashed through the veil, following his greatest foe.

 

* * *

 

A coin twirls through the air once more. In the dark void it lands on its edge.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Flintheart Glomgold wondered how long it had been since he had died.

Days had little meaning now. After his funeral he had abandoned staying beside his body and returned to his money bin.

He thought of his home, his money, and for a moment the dark shadows circling him retreated.

But it wouldn't be much longer now.

With no family and no heirs the fortune of the world's richest duck all of it still sat in the bin. To be finally claimed by who knew? Glomgold had never made any arrangements for a will.

There was no one.

He could feel the rattling of the chains, louder now. The pull was stronger each day. At first staying near his decaying body in his office had been enough to keep it at bay. But after it had been finally found and buried, the money bin was the safest bet...

He had no interest in pondering if it had all been worth it. It had felt like that once, when he had struck gold in his new mine and been declared the richest duck in the world. But after that? He had kept the title easily, with no real challengers, and whatever his accomplishments later had been...

It was colder now.

A freezing touch wrapped around his ankle and Glomgold had very little will left in him to resist the pull.

 


End file.
